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City of God (Cidade de Deus, 2002)

post #1 of 13
3/8/09 at 5:09am
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Had to post something about this, having re-watched again tonight. I hadn't seen it since I first bought it a few years back, and I guess I had forgotten just how good it was. One thing that particularly impressed me is how different this is from Fernando Meirelles's other films in style. All of his films have a totally different look and feel to them, regardless of overall quality.

I loved the way they used narration. Just something about how they used Rocket's point of view, the people he knew, etc, to weave together an impressive web of different stories, and then how they basically imply that (and it's the truth) the continuance of violence in the slums of Rio, which provide an amazing backdrop. Funny how they all talk about "getting out" of the slums, in search of a better life, when that is basically what Meirelles did, using this film as his ticket out of Brazil, to work in Hollywood. I hope he ends up doing more films in Brazil, this easily surpasses anything he did before or has done after.
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post #2 of 13
3/8/09 at 5:18am
I finally saw this a couple weeks ago. Yes, it's awesome. It reminded me of The Godfather, oddly.
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post #3 of 13
3/8/09 at 8:12am
It really is an amazing film, it seems like Fernando Mereilles get's most of the credit for this film but he had a willing co-conspirator in Katia Lund, she seems to get overlooked, for the most part, which is a shame.

L'il Ze is one of the most fearsome villains ever to appear in film, the entire film is a great, great coming of age story.

I remember reading this review, that's always stuck with me.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/city-of-god-dvd/

Her comments about the underlying racism within the film I found interesting.
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post #4 of 13
3/8/09 at 1:10pm
Love! Love! Love! Glad people are finally coming around to it.
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post #5 of 13
3/8/09 at 1:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diva View Post
Love! Love! Love! Glad people are finally coming around to it.
Finally?

I thought City of God was one of those movies which everyone loved and had got massive amounts of critical approval.
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post #6 of 13
3/8/09 at 1:20pm
It did, and it is a great film. It's been a few years since I've seen it but it was a great piece on just how brutal life in the favelas is and on the cyclical nature of violence.

Of course, it's not completely representative of Rio and when I told a Brazilian guy I knew in college about he wasn't too pleased about it.

It makes a great complement to Tropa De Elite which has been discussed before.

I can't really say the same for City of Men which was a tv spinoff and then became it's own film. I tried watching but the camera work made me incredibly nauseous.
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post #7 of 13
3/8/09 at 1:27pm
Everyone who saw it loved. I may be misremembering, but I recall it only being on a few screens. There was only one theater in NYC that was playing it when I saw it. I don't know that many people outside of major movie fans who've actually seen this.

Edit: According to imdb, there was only a few months in 2003 and then again in 2004 when it hit more than a few dozen screens in the U.S.
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post #8 of 13
3/8/09 at 1:30pm
It was limited release but I remember it having press, especially online. I know I saw it on dvd.
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post #9 of 13
3/8/09 at 1:34pm
Yeah, I wasn't disputing the critical acclaim. I just don't know many people who actually saw the movie in the theater, if at all.
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post #10 of 13
3/8/09 at 1:37pm
That's true. You're right, probably not many at all.
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post #11 of 13
3/8/09 at 1:56pm
And to get back to discussion of the actual movie, it reminded me of Goodfellas. We follow the kids as they move from petty crimes to full on murder and gang violence and we learn the rules of the games as they do.

I love the dichotomy of Benny and Li'l Ze and how they balance each other out, until they don't anymore. The 70's scenes with Benny as the disco king are priceless. And fuck, Li'l Ze is one bad mofo. I would not want to cross his path.

I definitely need to pop in this DVD. I haven't watched it years.
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post #12 of 13
3/19/09 at 2:33am
My theatre played City of God. It did fairly well. The review that Dragon Ma cites is absolutely on the money about the racism woven into the fabric of the film. City of Men just didn't work at all compared to City of God.
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post #13 of 13
7/12/10 at 2:08pm
I saw this for the first time yesterday. Excellent, excellent movie.

I was surprised by how PASSIVE the protagonist was. This movie is filled with great memorable characters (Lil Dice, Benny, Rocket) - the most interesting thing about Rocket's story is that he isn't actively involved in really any of the drama of the movie. He's just an observer. Which is the perfect thing for a photographer to be, but an odd choice for a lead in a movie.

I really loved it though. Reminded me more of Goodfellas than The Godfather.
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